We have all enjoyed games where you work your way up to a final boss fight at the end, well this game is not that game. This game is an entire series of boss fights!

Boss Gauntlet is a co-op/solitaire children's game designed to help with simple math and logic decisions, where players will have a small hand of cards (2-3) to choose a hero from, and apply it to the current boss monster.

Once the boss monster has been defeated (by applying the right number of matching attack cards) the next boss appears! Do you think you and your friends can make it all the way to the end of the gauntlet?

Ok, I've finally gotten my son to sit with me long enough to hammer out some ideas here and make the game a reality. I've updated the original post with a download link. But here is the link for ease as well

There is some color in the file, but they aren't necessary - feel free to print in black and white, as it will not affect any game decisions. The colors are just there to make things a little more interesting to look at.

Thank you for the rules update Justin. I figured when the deck runs out, the game ends. I was going to ask what happens if you loose against a boss since the current rules said you have to play a card. I thought maybe the boss gets shuffled back in and players lose those heroes. However, since you can choose to discard a card or cover a card, this won't happen. It is printed and cut so I will try it this week!

Only got a chance to play many solo games so far but I think that version might need to be adjusted some how. I understand The contest is for at least two, a parent and child, so I guess that isn't a big deal.

The the best game I had was 3 boss left. With more players, there will be more cards out to play so chances are better I would think. For solo, I may suggest to lower the values or remove the dragon and wyvern or give the player a larger hand.

I will get back when it is played with more players. Really like the style of the game, placing the heroes around the boss in multiple places to defeat. Even without a win, Boss Gauntlet is very enjoyable. Congratulations to both of you for the design!

I've updated the game slightly. The chance of success was VERY low previously, and I've adjusted that a bit. I bumped the power level of a few Hero cards up. I've also did a little bit of wiggling around where the number values are for heros.

I've also nerfed the two 16 difficulty bosses down to 12.

Rules have been updated to account for the changes, and to include discarding and playing over an existing hero.

We've come up with an alternate play mode that seems to be a nice twist and still fun. I call it "Strategy Mode"

To play in strategy mode you lay out all 12 bosses into a 4 column x 3 row grid, all next to each other.

X X X XX X X XX X X X

The basic ides is still the same players get the same 2 card hands and draw and play one. however, you can only play heroes on exposed edges of the board.

Meaning you have to slowly pick your way into the grid and eliminate all the bosses.

Placing a hero in an area where it touches multiple bosses, means that hero applies to all touched bosses and stays in the field until all the bosses it's fighting are defeated.

This mode is a bit easier, but has a higher cognitive load at the start and can seem a little overwhelming to children. However my son got the hang of it after a couple turns and really enjoyed this mode as well.

It's not in the rule book yet, but I wanted to see what everybody thought of the additional play mode.

Edit: my son crafted the game almost by himself (laminate the cards and cut them, I helped with corner rounding), he is currently playing solo and seems to enjoy it (I ear "I beat him", "wow that's a big one".... sounds)

We run a game with my wife and find it very pleasant. Too easy for adults, but I'll try my 6-old nephew playing it.

So I ran a solo game with your grid and Minotaur, Land Shark, Hydra and Dubious Treant on the edges. Not sure it made the game harder.I chose to discard hero cards when they are used against a defeated Boss.I succeeded on turn 24 and really enjoyed it. I think I have an easy "dungeon" because of getting my third hero on turn 4, and second sword Champ on turn 8, and second bow Champ on turn 9.

I love this mode (although this is Children Contest) and for sure I will play it again, probably adjusting difficulty levels of the weakest Boss.